Thought And Observation

Nurture

Recently my friends and I have had few discussions on growing up. Nature or nurture is a concept that frequently gets brought up Suffice it to say, being part of the generation who became teenagers right after 9/11 happened, our outlooks are a bit different than the older generation. Does nature affect us so profoundly that our future success can be determined now?

Tough question to answer, that’s for sure. Many pundits would call my generation an entitled generation. An entitled generation who had to grow up during 9/11, who missed the wagon when it came to building self-esteem, whose career prospects were got halted because of 2008, and who pretty much buried themselves in debt by simply listening to our parents. Not saying that to be cynical, (Okay maybe a tad), but those are just the facts.

To me, it is possible to overcome nature. Though, it’s not something that can be done so easily. Unfortunately, it also takes time. On top of time, there is the fact that the nature which afflicts us does not always intimate to the nurturing entities that they should be optimistic.

Most of the well-adjusted successful people of my generation, and any generation really, are also the most positive. How did that happen when so many people are gloomy, and negative as hell? Nurture is what happened.

Through the strange happenings of life, and the occurrences which are out of our grasp, the nurturing entities; parents, friends, teachers etc, never lost hope in those individuals. It’s amazing to watch when things align so well. You’ll never meet happier, more interesting people than those for whom nurture worked its magic.

Though we as humans love to hear the stories of struggle, sacrifice, and the underdog who came out on top, it’s good to know some of the realities associated with that. Most importantly, it’s great to understand that we all have our own individual ideas of suffering, hardships, struggle, and sacrifice. Nature has the ability to create, and destroy. Nurture is a tool designed to fix, or worsen what nature creates or destroys. And we as individuals tend to receive more feedback from one than the other. Perhaps that is one solution to the “Nature vs. Nurture” question.